First Time Series
by PsiGen
Summary: A sort of offshoot to Mutant X Vols, as requested by individuals - particular scenes or memories detailed in fanfic


**First Time Series – Jesse's Fragment**

_Authors Note: Ana Blackpanther requested this moment of Jesse's as a sort of conclusion to the Vols fic – it is recommended that you read that story prior to this._

_If anyone else wants a particular moment capture email me and we'll see what we can do._

**Summary**

Jesse seeing Sanctuary for the first time...

Having just escaped Genomex, Jesse had woken in the back seat of a car, but had promptly returned to sleep after seeing Shalimar. He had met her at Genomex – had tried to help her escape – and had ended up getting them both caught. Taken to be placed in stasis, he had been rescued by the mysterious Adam who had apparently rescued Shalimar as well.

He didn't wake again, even when they arrived at their destination – and so Adam had had to carry the Molecular upstairs to a guest bedroom, settling him under the covers like a father would his son.

All this was lost to Jesse, who slept on unawares. He didn't see Adam bending over him, pushing a stray lock of blonde hair out of his face. Gazing down at Jesse's relaxed and peaceful features, Adam Kane sighed.

"What on earth do I do with you now?" He asked nobody in particular. Only silence answered. Only time would tell.

Nearly eleven hours passed, before a well-rested Jesse opened his eyes to the world again. Focusing on a rather bland pastel wall, he blinked several times before letting out a loud drawn out yawn.

Then the enormity of the situation struck him. He wasn't in Genomex any more! He had finally escaped that terrible place and had come - where? Where was this place?

Summoning up his newly rediscovered courage, Jesse got out of bed and went to the door – expecting it to be locked.

To his surprise it wasn't locked at all, he slid it back easily and peeped out into the corridor beyond, fascinated with the architecture of the place he now found himself in.

Hesitant at first, but soon picking up some more of that untapped courage, he walked the winding corridor and found himself in what could only be described as Aladdin's cave – or the closest thing to it. He looked around in absolute awe – tentatively touched the humming databank that dominated one side of the vast room. Steps descended down from the upper level, but that wasn't all! Turning in a wide circle Jesse caught sight of more steps this time leading to what looked like a very advanced Virtual Reality Suite! He'd seen white papers on it, read articles on various theories – even seen some plans in one of the files he'd hacked at Genomex once – but nothing compared to this!

A glass partition on the lower level revealed a laboratory of some kind – suddenly Jesse was afraid. What did they do there? Had he escaped the frying pan only to burn in the fire?

"It's not as bad as it looks. Adam does his research in there."

Startled he turned around and saw a smiling Shalimar standing at the top of the main flight of steps he had noticed earlier.

"I.. this.. place.. its.. what.. where - "Jesse couldn't express what he wanted to ask – there were just too many questions he wanted to ask.

Shalimar smiled, obviously proud of her home.

"This is Sanctuary. It's a place of safety for New Mutants like you and me." She answered, coming down the steps to him.

"But who.. who built it all? The design – the complexity –"Jesse's eyes were alight with everything he saw. He hadn't even seen the meditation pool yet, it was all so overwhelming like an episode out of Star Trek.

Finally he managed on simple question past his lips.

"Who are you people?"

"We're just trying to set things straight."

Jesse turned, seeing Adam approach from the direction he himself had just come from.

"I was just seeing if you wanted breakfast. You've been asleep for eleven hours." He answered Jesse's unspoken fear.

Jesse didn't answer, instead he took the moment to study the man before him – curly brown hair, fiercely intelligent brown eyes – a posture that exuded self-confidence but radiated calm too – recognition set in and Jesse snapped his fingers.

"You're Adam Kane – you were the head geneticist at Genomex – before you disappeared." Said Jesse triumphantly.

Adam looked abashed for a second – even somewhat embarrassed at being recognised – but was quick to recover.

"Yes, I had that dubious honour." He conceded.

"Are you like us... a .. a New Mutant?" Asked Jesse.

"No. I'm the one who created New Mutants." Answered Adam honestly – staring at Jesse intensely, gauging his reaction to this bit of information. Jesse got the distinct feeling that how he responded to this would decide a lot about his immediate future. Instead of answering – he again looked around in awe.

"Did you ... build this place?" He asked, eventually.

Adam ignored the redirection, stored the information away for later analysis, and nodded. He smiled at Jesse's wide eyes – his enthusiasm infectious.

"I designed and built it, yes. Over there –"Jesse interrupted before Adam could finish – wanting to display his technical knowledge off.

"A Virtual Reality suite – far out! I don't recognise the hardware you're running though and I'm pretty up to speed on computer science. Are you guys testing this stuff or something?" Again Jesse was so inquisitive, his eyes alight with curiosity – his intense desire to know how everything worked – Shalimar let out a low laugh.

She and Adam exchanged glances.

"Jesse – I think you're going to like it here." She prophesised, clapping him on the shoulder.

Jesse beamed back at the Feral – a radiant smile that hadn't been seen in a very long time indeed.

"You know Shalimar – I think so too." He said.


End file.
